It means technically that the company has obtained a permit for the construction of a new unit. “The license allows us to start the main construction phase at the second unit of Kursk-2,” an official statement says. Construction of Unit 1 began a short time earlier.
The project design of Kursk-2 brings together all the advantages and best global practices in terms of safety and performance. The cutting-edge VVER-TOI reactor units to be erected in the Kursk Region will serve as a reference project for reactors both in and outside Russia.
Investments in the project exceed 400 billion rubles, speaking volumes for the project scale. Construction of Kursk-2 is expected to annually bring 280 million rubles in taxes to the federal budget. According to rough estimates, tax revenues of regional and local budgets for sixty years of Kursk-2 operation will total nearly 200 billion rubles in current terms.
Kursk-2 is a priority project for RosEnergoAtom and the entire Rosatom Group. In 2016, investments will reach almost 10 billion rubles (as compared to 2.8 billion rubles during the preparatory phase in 2015).
The concept, structure or layout of VVER-TOI basic design does not need to be adapted to a particular site, although its basic functionality can be expanded with such options as improved earthquake resistance, output power maneuvering, crash-proof reactor buildings (withstanding a 400-ton airplane crash), and MOX fuel consumption.
The VVER-TOI project is expected to add to the competitive edge of VVER reactors on the global market and be replicated in the construction of nuclear power plants both in and outside Russia. Kursk-2 will bring enormous benefits to the Kursk Region by spurring the development of infrastructure and creating thousands of new jobs, with 6,000 to 7,000 people to be engaged in the construction and 2000 people in the operation phase of the project. As of September 2016, the staff working on the site of Kursk-2 exceeded 800 people for the first time. These people are employed by 18 contractors and work at 25 site facilities.
The Kursk NPP-2 is a replacement station for the currently operating Kursk nuclear power plant’s power blocks taken out of service.
